For Starters

    Bradley is looking to get back in the win column after suffering a 40-65 loss on the road at Arkansas-Little Rock.  The Braves have lost seven consecutive non-conference road games dating back to a 61-50 road win at Loyola-Chicago on Dec. 2, 2005.  Bradley is 0-4 away from Robertson Memorial Field House (including an 0-2 neutral site record) and has lost five consecutive tilts away from home dating back to a first-round win at the 2007 State Farm MVC Tournament.

    The Braves have scored better than 70 points just once this season and are shooting 36.7 percent from the field over the last four contests.

    Bradley has three players from the Chicagoland area.  Loyola head coach Shannon Reidy coached Bradley sophomore Skye Johnson at Marian Catholic before taking over the head coaching duties at Loyola.

    Loyola has lost six straight games after opening the season with a 67-52 victory against Robert Morris. 

About Loyola

    Loyola features eight returning letterwinners, including three starters from last year's team that finished 7-21 overall and was tied for eighth in the Horizon League.  The Ramblers are 1-6 on the season after a 70-52 road loss at Eastern Illinois. 

    Loyola's roster features just four upperclassmen in addition to six sophomores and two freshmen.  The top five scorers for the Ramblers are underclassmen, led by sophomore forward Elyse Van Bogaert's 12.0 points per game.  Sophomore guards Maggie McCloskey (11.4 ppg) and Keisha Collins (9.0 ppg) round out the top three in scoring.  Freshman center Brittany Noeke is averaging 5.9 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.

    Loyola has yet to score 70 points this season and is averaging 51.4 points per game over the last five contests.  The Ramblers have faced Eastern Illinois, losing 52-70, and have faced future Bradley opponents Chicago State and Illinois State.

    Opponents have outscored Loyola by an average of 13.3 points per game and the Ramblers have been outrebounded by an average of nearly 12 boards (11.7) per game.

About Bradley

    Bradley returns seven of 12 letterwinners, including two starters from last year's team that finished seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 12-19 overall record and 7-11 Valley mark.  The Braves return just one of its top five scorers, however, from last year in senior Devyn Flanagan.

    Junior transfer Monica Rogers is the Braves top scorer and rebounder, averaging 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game after playing in each of the last five games.  Rogers is shooting 50 percent from the field, but was held to just one point in five minutes of action Saturday at Arkansas-Little Rock due to foul trouble.  Sophomore guard Skye Johnson is averaging 9.0 points, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game after missing last season.  Sophomore forward Jenny Van Kirk scored nine points as a freshman, but is averaging 7.4 points per game and shooting 50 percent.

    Senior guard Devyn Flanagan is the Braves top returning scorer and active career scoring leader, but has struggled in the early going, averaging 5.9 points per game.  Flanagan is second on the team in assists and steals, however, averaging 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

    The Braves are averaging 58.3 points per game and have topped 70 points just once this season, but have limited opponents to 63.6 points per game and have held three of seven opponents to 57 points or less.

Series History

    Tuesday's game between Bradley and Loyola will mark the 25th meeting between the two programs.  The Braves own a 14-10 lead in the all-time series with the Ramblers, which dates back to the 1979-80 season.  The teams are meeting for the seventh consecutive year and Bradley holds a 5-1 lead in the series under eighth-year head coach Paula Buscher.  The Braves have won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series and 12 of the last 15 overall.  Bradley is 5-7 in road games in the series.

The Coaches

    Paula Buscher (Missouri State, ?86) is in her eighth year at Bradley and has a record of 86-119 (.420) at BU.  Buscher led teams to improved records in each of her first five seasons as a collegiate head coach and seven of her 10 seasons overall.  Buscher owns a 129-157 (.451) career record and is in her 11th year as a collegiate head coach.  She is the second winningest coach in school history and led Bradley to its first MVC Tournament victory since 1996 last season.  A longtime assistant coach at Nebraska-Omaha, Buscher coached Minnesota St.-Mankato during the 1997-98 season and returned to UNO as head coach for the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons, before coming to The Hilltop.

    Shannon Reidy (Lake Forest ?94) is in her third year as head coach at Loyola and has led the Ramblers to a 12-52 (.188) record in that time.  Reidy was head coach at Marian Catholic High School for seven years where she coached Bradley sophomore guard Skye Johnson prior to taking over at Loyola.

Heading Home

    Bradley will make the first of two trips to Chicago this week for a mid-week contest at Loyola-Chicago.  The Braves will also play at Chicago State on Dec. 20.  Three players on the Bradley roster call the Chicagoland area home.  Junior Kelly Krumwiede is from Glen Ellyn, Ill.  Sophomore Skye Johnson hails from Olympia Fields, Ill., and played at Marian Catholic for Loyola's head coach Shannon Reidy.  Freshman Sonya Harris is from Riverdale, Ill.  Bradley will play two games in the Chicagoland area in the same season for the first time since the 1993-94 season.  Bradley played a pair of games in a tournament in nearby Evanston, Ill., and also played at Chicago State during the 1993-94 campaign.

Frericks Ties School Record

    Sophomore guard Renee Frericks tied a school record with eight three-point baskets in the Braves 83-57 victory against Eastern Illinois.  Frericks entered the game with nine career points and was 1-for-11 in her career from three-point range, but connected on 8-of-11 trey's against the Panthers to tie Andrea McAllister's school record of eight three-pointers set Jan. 27, 1990.  The eight trey's also broke a Robertson Memorial Field House record, which was held by six individuals (including four former Bradley players) and is tied for the third highest game total in Missouri Valley Conference history.  Frericks finished the game with a career-best 26 points, crushing her previous high of four points.

Braves Look To End Road Skid

    Bradley is looking to end a seven-game losing streak in non-conference road games Wednesday when the Braves visit Loyola-Chicago.  Bradley's last non-conference road victory was Dec. 2, 2005 at Loyola, as the Braves posted a 61-50 against the Ramblers at the Gentile Center.  BU has lost six consecutive games away from home heading into Wednesday's game in Chicago.  The Braves last win away from Robertson Memorial Field House is a 65-56 triumph against Missouri State in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament. 

In-State Foes

    Last Tuesday's game against in-state foe Eastern Illinois was the third of nine games against teams from the state of Illinois.  Last season the Braves played 12 games against teams from the Prairie State going 3-9 in those contests.  Bradley ended a nine-game losing streak to in-state opponents that dated back to last December's home win against Loyola with a 69-62 victory over Illinois-Chicago earlier this season.  The Braves are now 34-25 (.576) against teams from the Land of Lincoln under eighth-year head coach Paula Buscher.  Bradley is 117-138 (.459) against Division I teams from Illinois all-time, but owns an 83-60 (.580) mark against Division I non-conference foes from Illinois.

Braves Top 70 For First Time

    Bradley scored a season-high 83 points in last Tuesday's victory against Eastern Illinois, ending a streak of 10 consecutive games in which the Braves didn't reach the 70-point mark dating back to last season.  The 10-game stretch under 70 points was the first for the Braves since failing to score 70 or more in the first 35 games of intercollegiate competition.  Bradley was held to under 70 points for the entire 1975-76 (11 games) and 1976-77 (18 games) seasons in addition to the first six games of the 1977-78 campaign.  Despite the offensive struggles, the Braves have emerged as one of the top defensive teams in the conference, limiting foes to 63.3 points per game. 

Braves Finish Horizon League Tour

    Wednesday's game at Loyola-Chicago will mark the Bradley's fourth game in the first eight contests against Horizon League opponents.  The Braves are 1-2 against Horizon League teams this season heading into the game against the Ramblers.  BU is 36-21 (.632) against current members of the Horizon League, including a 27-18 (.600) against this year's Horizon League foes.  Bradley is 14-7 (.667) against current members of the Horizon League under eighth-year head coach Paula Buscher.

Braves Dial In From Downtown

    Bradley shot a season-best 64.3 percent from three-point range in an 83-57 home win against Eastern Illinois, knocking down nine of 14 three-point attempts.  The 64.3 percent from three-point range is the third best shooting performance in school history and was the best since setting a school record for accuracy against Northern Iowa, hitting 9-of-11 three-point attempts on Feb. 10, 2001.

Jenny On The Spot

    Sophomore Jenny Van Kirk has emerged as one of the Braves top scoring threats after seeing very little time as a freshman.  Van Kirk scored nine points as a freshman, but has started the last two games and is averaging 7.4 points per game through the first seven games.  Over the last six contests, Van Kirk is shooting 50 percent from the field (20-for-40) averaging 8.7 points per game.  She has started each of the last two games and has hit five of her last seven three-point attempts heading into Wednesday's game at Loyola.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

    Junior Monica Rogers has made a big impact in her first few games as a Brave.  After missing both exhibition games and the first two regular-season contests, Rogers is averaging team highs of 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over her first five games in a Bradley uniform.  The Hampton transfer is shooting 50.0 percent from the field and is also averaging nearly one steal and one assist per game.  She transferred to Bradley from Hampton following her sophomore season, where she averaged 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while leading the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with nine double-doubles in 2005-06.

Braves Make Trek North To Alaska                         

    The Bradley women's basketball team finished fourth at the annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska, losing to Santa Clara (61-69) and Cleveland State (61-82).  Tournament host Alaska Anchorage won its second consecutive tournament title.  The Braves were the first Missouri Valley Conference women's team to participate in the Great Alaska Shootout since Drake and Wichita State both took part in the 1983-84 event.  The Bradley men's basketball team is the only other team in school history to compete in Alaska, taking part in the 1979 tournament. 

In-Season Tournaments

   Bradley is 7-9 in in-season tournaments under head coach Paula Buscher and has finished second or better in four of the eight tournaments during her tenure.  The Braves are 22-25 during in-season tournaments since the start of 1985-86 season, including a 17-15 mark since 1993-94.  Bradley has finished second or better in seven of 16 tournaments since the beginning of 1993-94 campaign.

Braves Break Out Of Offensive Funk

    The Braves opened the season in a bit of an offensive funk, shooting 32.7 percent and averaging just 47.0 points per game in the first two games of the 2007-08 season.  Bradley broke out of its funk in a big way against Illinois-Chicago, scoring 38 points in the first half en route to a 69-62 victory.  The 38 points in a half were the most by the Braves since a 47 second-half against Wichita State on Feb. 17, 2007.  Bradley had scored 34 points or less in each of the last 14 halves of basketball prior to the 38-point first half against UIC.  The Braves are averaging 62.8 points per game over the last five games, despite scoring a season-low 40 points last time out in a 40-65 loss at UALR>

Putting It In Neutral

    Bradley went 0-2 at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, dropping the Braves record to 28-31 all-time in neutral site games.  BU fell to 6-11 all-time in neutral site games under eighth-year head coach Paula Buscher.  The Braves will have a chance to improve its neutral court record later this season at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., in March.

Home Opening Notes

    Bradley had a three-game win streak in home openers snapped with a 56-46 loss to Butler.  The Braves fell to 23-10 (.697) in home openers all-time, including a 5-3 (.625) mark under head coach Paula Buscher.  The 46 points scored were the fewest scored by Bradley in a home opener, eclipsing the previous mark of 47.  The Braves scored 47 points in their very first contest, a 47-32 home win against Eureka on Jan. 22, 1976.

Buscher Reaches 200 Games At BU

    Bradley's game against Butler (Nov. 13) marked eighth-year head coach Paula Buscher's 200th game as head coach at BU.  She enters Wednesday's tilt at Loyola with a record of 86-119 (.420) at BU, including a 37-34 (.521) mark against non-conference opponents.  Only Lisa Boyer had a longer tenure as head coach of the Braves, sitting on the Bradley bench for 273 games over 10 seasons.  Buscher is second behind Boyer's school record 124 victories.

Upcoming Promotions

    The Braves next home game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 8 against Toledo.  The 2:05 p.m. contest, will be the third of six Saturday matinees, featuring free popcorn.  Other promotions include the Mass Mutual Miracle Make during halftime.

Flanagan Closing In On 800 Points

    Senior Devyn Flanagan is nearing 800 career points, needing six points to reach the mark.  Flanagan passed Audrey DeClue recently to move into 26th place on Bradley's career scoring list and is just five points from climbing into the top 25.  Flanagan is the first player to have more than 700 points entering their senior season since Genny Mueller in 2004-05.  All 11 players that scored 700 or more points before their final season reached the 1,000-point mark during their last season as a Brave.  Junior Kelly Krumwiede is second among active players with 427 career points.

Bradley's Career Scoring Leaders

Flanagan Joins Elite Group

    Senior Devyn Flanagan returned to the lineup in the Braves opener at Northern Illinois after missing both exhibition games and finished with six points, three assists, one block and three steals.  Flanagan became the 10th player in program history to record 700 points, 300 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals in a career with her season-opening effort.  She currently has 790 points, 325 rebounds, 219 assists and 119 steals during her time as a Brave.  Flanagan enters this week's action 26th in scoring, needing five points to move into the top 25 in scoring at BU and is six points and 24 rebounds short of becoming just the sixth player in program history with 800 points, 350 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals.

Up Next

    Bradley will return home for one of its two December home contests when the Braves play host to Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 8.  The Braves and Rockets are meeting for just the second time.  Toledo won the first meeting, claiming a 72-64 victory over Bradley on Nov. 24, 1990 in the season opener for both teams at the Rice Classic in Houston, Texas.

Braves On The Internet

    Bradley women's basketball fans can catch all of this year's home and away games via the internet at www.bubraves.com  Free audio will be available for each game in addition to a pay-per-view video stream for all home games and some road contests.

See You In St. Charles

    While the 2007-08 season will mark the end of an era with the final season of Robertson Memorial Field House, it also marks the beginning of another era for the Missouri Valley Conference.  After 22 years of playing the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at campus sites, the 2007-08 State Farm MVC Women's Basketball Tournament will be the first held at a neutral site.  All 10 teams will advance to this year's tournament that will be held March 13-16 at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.  All-session tickets purchased before Dec. 1 are available at the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office for $20.  All-session tickets purchased after Dec. 1 will be $40.  For ticket information, contact the Bradley Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 677-2625.

Field House Finale

    The 2007-08 season will mark the final year for Robertson Memorial Field House.  A new facility, which includes an arena for women's basketball with seating for 4,500 people, and men's basketball practice facility is planned for the current site that Robertson Field House sits on.  The Bradley women's basketball team has posted a 202-164 (.552) record all-time in the facility and have finished .500 or better in 23 of 31 seasons playing in the building.  The Braves are 49-43 (.533) at Robertson Field House under head coach Paula Buscher and own a 51-43 (.543) home record during eight years, having won two games played at Carver Arena.